Smile and Say Cydra
by Seymour Butz
Summary: The requested sequel to 2010's "Not Another Vampire Story", in which former vampire chipmunk Cydra tries to re-adjust to a normal life in a vampire-obsessed world.
1. New Beginnings

Smile and Say Cydra Chapter 1: New Beginnings

Author's note: "Not Another Vampire Story" was intended to be a one-shot, but since readers kept asking for one, here is a sequel.

She had received so much of what she had never had before: love, support, friends, family, yet at times, Cydra had trouble adjusting to her new life. Within a year's worth of time, Cydra's dark and spooky appearance slowly transitioned: gone were the crazy multi-colored highlights that streaked down her naturally jet black hair, the numerous piercings across her face had reduced to one ring on her bottom lip, she had a little more color in her once pasty and extremely pale skin. In many ways, she was a new girl, yet she still struggled witht he feelings of the old girl. She had gotten used to being a vampire for so long, and abusing her control of those she could manipulate, that a normal life almost seemed strange to her. Cydra had no desire in becoming a vampire again, but at the same time, she seemed to take subject matters rather personally. She hated the vampire hype that resulted in the popularity in Twilight series, and other vampire books and movies. She cringed at hearing songs such as "That's What Ghouls and Vampires Are Made Of" and "Vampire Girl" on the radio. She also hated the holiday that was fast approaching that was loved by her friends, if there was something that could be said, it was that Cydra was the Grinch when it came to Halloween. Even she had to admit that she was surprised she still felt so much disgust and disdain for insignificant things after all this time. She feared this would drive a wedge between the people in her life, like her adoptive parents, who did find Cydra to be peculiar, even if they didn't say anything, and those who saved her from her demise, like the chipmunks and the chipettes. One afternoon, the phone rang, and Cydra's mother, Nancy, who had just returned home from work, answered the phone. It was for Cydra.

"Cydra?" Nancy called upstairs. "Cydra, dear?"

Cydra slowly approached the railing. "Yes, mother?"

"Phone!" Nancy said, as she sat the receiver on the table, while she grabbed her briefcase and laptop, and entered the kitchen.

Cydra descended the staircase, and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Cyd!" The voice on the other end responded, "Britt!"

"Hey, Britt." Cydra greeted Brittany.

"Listen, my sister and I wanna have you over tonight for a slumber party, wanna come?" Brittany asked.

"I really don't know..." Cydra said.

"Aw, come on, Cyd," Brittany insisted, "look, I promise that Jeanette will hide all of her Twilight books, and Eleanor will take down her Taylor Lautner pinups."

"You three are all heart..." Cydra remarked, with slight sarcasm.

"No, look, really, we want you to hang out with us, what do you say?" Brittany asked.

Cydra shrugged. "Oh, why not? I'll just ask my parents, I'm sure they'll let me."

"Awesome." Brittany said. "Don't bother bringing a sleeping bag, we cleaned up a cot Miss Miller had in the cellar for you."

"Sounds very comfortable," Cydra said, "I'll be there."

As the skies grew darker, and the night grew cooler, Cydra made her way down the street, a duffle bag in hand for her pajamas and toothbrush, among other things. She rang the doorbell of the Miller residence, and was welcomed in by Eleanor, who brought her upstairs to the bedroom she shared with her older sisters.

"Just in time," Eleanor said, "I got the popcorn maker going, I made sure to pour in extra."

"Great," Cydra said, "I hope you have lots of butter."

"Sure do." Eleanor said.

Up in the bedroom, Brittany was already chowing down on the popcorn that was popping out of the popcorn maker Eleanor had plugged in, but when she heard footsteps approaching, she tried to swallow her mouthful as quickly as possible. The barely chewed mouthful scratched her throat as she swallowed, causing her eyes to mist a little, as her face twisted.

"Cydra's here!" Eleanor announced, as she entered the room, followed by their guest.

"Great!" Brittany growled, with pain in her throat.

Eleanor and Cydra exchanged looks with each other.

"What's with you?" Eleanor asked.

"Nothing..." Brittany lightly choked, "I uh... threw up in my mouth a little..." she lied.

"Eww." was Cydra's simple response.

"Thanks for sharing that with us." Eleanor said.

Cydra dropped her bag on the cot that was set up in a vacant portion of the bedroom.

"We were just trying to decide what movie to watch tonight," Eleanor said, as she walked over to the case of DVDs she and her sisters had in their room, "what are you into? Comedy? Drama? Suspense? Thriller?"

"Oh, it really doesn't matter, I'm really up for anything?" Cydra said.

"I never get to watch 'My Best Friend's Wedding' anymore," Brittany complained, "I wanna watch that tonight."

"Well, we need a complete vote... where's Jeanette?" Eleanor asked.

Before Brittany could answer, Jeanette stepped into the room.

"What do you guys think?" Jeanette asked, her face immediately turning red when she saw Cydra in the room. "Oh... sorry... I didn't know Cydra was already here..."

Jeanette was embarrassed, as she applied the finishing touches to her Bella Halloween costume, knowing how much Cydra hates Twilight.

"Uh... you look fine, Jean..." Brittany said, in a tone indicating Jeanette should leave the room.

"Yeah, your costume turned out great..." Eleanor said, in a similar tone.

"Right..." Jeanette mumbled, still blushing, "um... I'll just... uh... change..."

Jeanette turned tail and raced down the hallway, while Brittany and Eleanor snuck peaks over at Cydra, who by the time, was unpacking her bag, while rolling her eyes.

"She's uh... been... working on her costume all week..." Eleanor said, nervously...

"Twilight is so over-rated..." Cydra said.

"She didn't mean it, Cydra..." Brittany said, "if it's any comfort to you, Jeanette's not even into that series for the vampire stuff... she's just into that sickeningly mushy romance fluff..."

"Yeah," Eleanor chimed in, "you know how Jeanette is, she's a lonely middle aged women in a teenager's body..."

Cydra snickered, just as Jeanette walked back into the room, in her normal outfit.

"I'm so sorry Cydra, I really didn't know you were already here." Jeanette said.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Cydra said, "you're into what you're into."

The night went on, not being able to agree on what movie to watch, the girls sat around watching reruns of Degrassi on cable. The chipettes were continuously in awe over Cydra's seemingly insatiable appetite for the popcorn that was made, even adding just about every powdered flavor they had, except for garlic. The girls also talked shop about things going on in the lives at the moment: school, grades, exams, activities, boys, the more talking that went on, the more relaxed Cydra became, she still had trouble socializing with others, even her friends, but pretty soon, Cydra was one of the girls, that is until Brittany accidentally talked more than she should.

"... yeah, I just hope I don't bump into that creep at the Halloween party this weekend!" Brittany said, as both Jeanette and Eleanor dropped their heads.

"What?" Brittany asked, before she realized what had happened.

"Oh, you don't have to act like you can't talk about this kinda stuff while I'm around..." Cydra said, a little annoyed with how her friends were treating her.

"We just don't want to offend you, Cydra." Jeanette said.

"I'm not offended," Cydra insisted, "you can talk about the party all you want, don't bother me at all, because I won't be going anyway."

"Don't you think you may be dwelling on the past a little too much, Cydra?" Eleanor asked.

"No, I just don't really like being reminded of it." Cydra said.

"Well, there's more to Halloween than vampire stuff," Brittany said, "the one thing to remember is that the only important thing about Halloween is candy!"

"Aren't we a little old to trick or treat?" Cydra asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but we still enjoy rotten our teeth on the sweets that are provided at parties and such." Brittany said.

"I have an idea," Jeanette said," why don't you come to the party with us, Cydra?"

Brittany and Eleanor's eyes widened. Was she crazy?

"I think you may be surprised at how much fun Halloween can be, without having to worry about all the silly vampire stuff." Jeanette suggested.

Everyone sat in silence for a moment, before Cydra cocked her head to one side.

"Well, I suppose I could go to a party..." Cydra said.

Brittany and Eleanor silently sighed in relief.

"So, what's the program?" Cydra asked. "What's the idea here?"

Recollecting from parties of previous years, the chipettes explained to Cydra what would happen.

"Well, basically, it's almost like a costume ball..." Brittany said.

"Yeah, just get yourself a costume, doesn't matter who you dress as or what you dress as... but you have to be really creative and imaginative, because they usually have costume contests." Eleanor said.

"Not to mention, there's all the candy you can eat." Jeanette said.

"We just basically get together with friends and have a good time... it's Halloween for older kids." Brittany said.

Cydra shrugged. "Alright, I suppose I can come along."

"Just give it a try." Eleanor said.

"Yeah, and if you're not having a good time, we'll take you home." Jeanette said.

"You mean we're all gonna leave the party if she's not having fun?" Brittany asked.

Jeanette and Eleanor glared at Brittany.

"I mean, yeah, no problem Cydra, we pull for you." Brittany said, hoping that Cydra would indeed have a good time, so she wouldn't have to leave early.

"I'll talk to my folks about it," Cydra said, "and I'll try to come up with some kind of costume..."

"The party's Friday night in the school gymnasium." Eleanor said.

"We'll all meet at the end of the street and go together, we'll want to get there early, it gets crowded quickly." Jeanette said. 


	2. The Party

Smile and Say Cydra Chapter 2: The Party

Up in their bedroom, the chipmunks were fixing up their costumes for the Halloween party at school they were going to. Simon adjusted his foam rubber suit, as he continuously checked with his mirror for refence, he had constructed a life-size costume replica of a microscopic baterium, which he read to be the most deadly bacterium to the human race, and figured it was the scariest costume he could make.

"Well, I'm all ready," Simon said, "how about you boys?"

"I'm almost done..." Theodore called, from inside the closet.

"You might want to hurry Theodore, we're supposed to meet the girls at the end of the street in about nine minutes and twenty-seven seconds."

Theodore exited the closet. "Okay, I'm ready."

Simon studied Theodore's costume with a curious eye. "So... you're going to the party dressed as a burglar?"

"Not just any burglar," Theodore said, "the Hamburglar!"

Simon revealed a half smile, "Cute idea Theodore, but I doubt anybody is going to know who you are, the Hamburglar hasn't been used as a advertising mascot in years."

Theodore shrugged it off, "Maybe they'll let me get away with swiping some extra candy... oh, I hope they have those little bite sized Snickers again this year, I love those things!"

"Alvin, what's keeping you?" Simon called out into the hallway.

"I'm having trouble with my hair!" Alvin called back from the bathroom.

"What are you dressing as? Cousin Itt?" Simon asked.

"Haha, very funny," Alvin remarked, "no, I'm dressing as the most awesome, and coolest person on the face of this planet!"

"Alvin, you're not going as yourself again this year, are you?" Theodore asked.

"I should rephrase what I said and say I'm dressing as the most awesome, and coolest person on the face of this planet, according to the general public." Alvin said.

"We're running out of time, Alvin," Simon said, "we need to meet the girls at the end of the street in another eight minutes and nineteen seconds!"

Alvin walked back into the bedroom.

"We won't be late on my watch!" Alvin said, as he flipped his wig.

"Oh my..." Theodore said, amused by Alvin's getup.

"Let me guess..." Simon said, "... Justin Bieber?"

Alvin nodded, "If this doesn't win the costume contest this year, I don't know what will!"

"Well, we better get going..." Simon said.

"I can't wait to see what the girls will be dressed as..." Theodore said.

At the chipettes' house, both Eleanor and Jeanette had finished dressing into their costumes.

"I kind of wish Simon would dress up as Edward..." Jeanette said, as she finished dressed up as Bella, "it would've been so much fun."

"I don't believe Simon is into the Twilight Saga like you are, Jeanette..." Eleanor said, as she finished dressing as She-Ra, for nostalgia.

"What's taking Brittany so long?" Jeanette asked.

"You have to ask?" Eleanor asked.

"You guys ready to see the greatest costume of all time?" Brittany called out from the closet.

"Let's see, Britt..." Eleanor said.

Out of the closet, Brittany sauntered, in quite an outlandish ensemble and colored hair.

"Looking hot, Britt..." Eleanor said, jokingly.

"Hey, I'm the most popular artist as far as the public is concerned... I'm Katy Perry!" Brittany said.

"Suits you very well." Jeanette said.

"This better win the costume contest this year!" Brittany said.

Moments later, the chipmunks and chipettes met at the end of the street, but both Alvin and Brittany were upset at seeing each other's costumes.

"Are you kidding me?" Brittany asked.

"You can't be serious!" Alvin said.

"Come on Alvin, what are you thinking?" Brittany asked.

"I'm thinking I'm going to win this year's costume contest!" Alvin said.

"Well think again, because I'm going to win this year's costume contest!" Brittany said.

"No way, there's more girls than guys in the school, the Bieb is bound to win the contest!" Alvin said.

"But Katy Perry is much more eye-catching, I'll be more noticable, and more likely to win the contest!" Brittany said.

"I don't believe this," Simon groaned, "a contest to see who's going to win the contest..."

"Can't we just go now?" Theodore asked.

"Oh, not yet, we have to wait for Cydra." Jeanette said.

"Cydra's coming?" Theodore asked.

"I thought Cydra hated Halloween?" Simon asked.

"Apparently, this is all part of Jeanette's reform program." Brittany joked.

"She needs to have some fun," Jeanette said, "I want her to see there's more to Halloween that just a whole bunch of vampire nonsense."

"Well, where is she then?" Alvin asked.

"If she's not here in another minute, I say we go on," Brittany suggested, "I seriously doubt she'll come anyway."

"I'm not holding you guys up, am I?" Cydra called out.

The group turned around, but was surprised to see Cydra's chose of dressup, as she looked almost exactly like she did when they first met her.

"Um... nice... uh... nice, costume?" Jeanette said.

Cydra rolled her shoulders. "It was the only thing I could think to dress as..."

The others remained silent.

"Well, at least one can say you have the most accurate costume at the party..." Simon said.

"Can we go now?" Brittany whined.

"Yes, let's go..." Simon said.

Later in the evening, the school gymnasium was packed with students, dressed in an assortment of different costumes, from traditional Halloween fixtures like monsters, goblins, witches, wizards, to popular characters from favorite cartoons, movies, anime, manga, and others. Both Alvin and Brittany were relishing in the attention they were drawing because of their costumes, alot of girls at the party loved Alvin's Justin Bieber costume, meanwhile alot of boys got a kick out of Brittany's Katy Perry costume. Elsewhere in the party, Theodore was having his turn at apple bobbing, and after several grueling minutes, finally had an apple in his mouth. Freeing his hands, he pocketed his token, and turned to his brother.

"Your turn, Simon!" Theodore said.

"I think I will pass, Theodore." Simon said.

"Oh, come on, it's fun!" Theodore said.

"Theodore," Simon began, "do you realize the parasites and bacteria that's probably contaminating that tub of water? And you want me to stick my mouth into that pit of filth?"

"But, Simon," Theodore respond, "you are a bacteria... remember?"

"Bacterium," Simon corrected him, "and... oh, never mind..."

Elsewhere in the gymnasium, Jeanette and Eleanor stared on in awe at how Cydra was pigging out on all the candy she could get her hands on.

"You must really like candy, Cydra..." Jeanette said.

"Mmm," Cydra mumbled with her mouth full, "I find sugar very addictive..."

"Can't argue there." Eleanor said.

"There's just going to be one problem..." Cydra said.

"What's that?" Jeanette asked.

"I'm going to have one massive headache in the morning..." Cydra said, "but oh well, it'll be worth it! Where's the apple cidar? I'm thirsty!"

"Over there..." Eleanor pointed out.

"Great..." Cydra walked off.

"Well, she seems to be having a fairly good time..." Jeanette said.

"Yeah," Eleanor chuckled, "I've lost count how many pumpkin cookies she's eaten."

At that moment, the judges of the costume contest walked over, they were dressed as Sheldon and Leonard, and were looking over their clipboards before they approached Jeanette and Eleanor.

"Either of you entered in the costume contest?" 'Sheldon' asked.

"I'm not." Jeanette said.

"Me either." Eleanor said.

"You want to enter?" 'Leonard' asked, "the contest will be starting pretty soon."

"I don't think I'll enter this year." Jeanette said.

"Why bother?" Eleanor joked. "'Justin Bieber' or 'Katy Perry' are bound to win anyway."

"Very well." 'Sheldon' said, as he walked away.

"The bazinga's lost on you." 'Leonard' said, also walking away.

Cydra was fixing herself another cup of apple cidar, when 'Sheldon' and 'Leonard' approached her.

"Would you be interested in entering the costume contest?" 'Sheldon' asked.

"Who me?" Cydra asked.

"Yeah you," 'Leonard said, "you really should join, your costume is highly impressive."

"Oh, this isn't a costume really," Cydra said, partly lying, "just something I threw together..."

"Creativity is the key," 'Sheldon' said, "you're very original, what do you say?"

"Well..." Cydra hesistated.

"Come on..." 'Leonard' said, as he and 'Sheldon' took her by the hand, and drug her away.

Unfortunately, a party wouldn't be a party without uninvited crashers, and two people showed up uninvited, intending to crash the party, slipping past the school security guards by blending in with the crowd, though they weren't wearing costumes either, they just happened to always look like they live in the Hot Topic at the mall.

"This party's kinda on the lame side, eh?" One of the crashers said to the other.

"No shit," the other said, "a little crashing really should liven things up abit."

"When do you want to strike?"

"Very, very shortly..."

Applause filled the gymnasium, as the costume contest went on, the level of the applause was to judge each entrant's costumes, and 'Leonard' monitored the applause meter.

"Next, we have Alvin," 'Sheldon announced, "and baby, baby, baby, check out him pulling off 'The Bieb'!"

Alvin was met with not only applause, but cheers and whistles, as he kept flipping his Bieber wig, 'Leonard' was surprised at how high the meter read the response, never before had it reached levels like this, but was soon to see this again when the next entrant was announced.

"Next is a real firework," 'Sheldon remarked', "let's hear it for Brittany, as she channels Katy Perry!"

Again, loud applause and cheers filled the gymnasium, it was looking like Alvin and Brittany were going to tie. In the crowd, Simon, Theodore, Jeanette, and Eleanor caught up with each other.

"Well, looks like we'll have another monthlong feud to put up with..." Simon said.

"Yeah, whoever wins, the other's not going to let it go for a looooong time..." Eleanor said.

"I kind of wish neither of them will win," Jeanette said, "that way, none of us will have to put up with a sore loser, or a sore winner."

"And finally," 'Sheldon' continued, "our last entrant has royalty as her charm, as we proudly present Cydra, the Vampire Princess!"

The chipmunks and chipettes were shocked beyond belief when they realized Cydra was in the costume contest. Not knowing what to make of what just happened, Simon, Theodore, Jeanette, and Eleanor mustered up the most enthusiastic applause and cheers that they could, which prompted others in the crowd to do the same... even one of the crashers brought up his hands in applause.

"What are you applauding for?" The other asked.

"Let's just say..." the crasher began, "she... intrigues me..."

'Leonard' read the meter carefully, the applause level was just barely above the levels for both Alvin and Brittany, both of whom stood among the other entrants, with their mouths hanging open.

"What does she think she's doing?" Brittany asked Alvin.

"Beats me, she's not even really wearing a costume!" Alvin said.

"That's right!" Brittany said. "She should be disqualified!"

'Leonard' handed 'Sheldon' the readings, as he looked over the scores. "Friends, it would seem the creativity and originality has won out this year..."

Both Alvin and Brittany smirked, while in the crowd, the rest of their group, kept exchanging looks with each other, unsure what was about to happen next.

"So let's have another round of applause for this year's winner," 'Sheldon' continued, "Cydra the Vampire Princess!"

All but Alvin and Brittany cheered for Cydra, who was completely surprised that she won the contest, so much, that 'Leonard' had to drag her to the front of the makeshift stage.

"I can't believe Cydra won!" Simon said.

"I know, this is shocking!" Jeanette said.

"I wonder what made her decide to enter the costume contest?" Eleanor asked.

The applause got to Cydra, as 'Sheldon' handed her the microphone.

"Gee, thanks..." Cydra said to the crowd, "um... at this time... I would like to thank the acadamy..."

This got a laugh from the crowd.

"And I would also like to thank the cast of 'The Big Bang Theory' for insisting I enter this contest." Cydra added, getting another laugh from the crowd, and especially from 'Sheldon' and 'Leonard'. "So, what do I win?"

"Right, we present you with this year's grand prize..." 'Sheldon' announced, while 'Leonard' struggled to carry onto the stage a plastic treasure chest, "incredible riches!"

Cydra opened the treasure chest, and was surprised at all the golden coins that filled it.

"Incredible riches, indeed!" Cydra squealed. "Where did you find all of this loot?"

More laughs were audible, before 'Leonard' took one of the coins, and unwrapped it revealing the golden coins were actually chocolate coins in golden wrappers.

"Hey, even better!" Cydra squealed.

"Some people have all the luck." Theodore said.

"Chin up, Theodore," Simon said, "perhaps she'll let you exploit her wealth."

"Huh?" Theodore responded.

Applause continued, back with the crashers, the main crasher motioned for his partner to follow him out the exit, once outside, they relayed a plan.

"You want to do what?" The partner asked.

"You heard me," the main crasher said, "we're taking her."

"What for?" The partner asked. "You dig her or something?"

"I did..." the main crasher said.

Back inside the party, Alvin and Brittany stormed over to their siblings.

"Alright, where's Cyd?" Brittany demanded to know.

"Why?" Eleanor asked.

"We got a bone to pick with her!" Alvin said

"Why, because she basically stole the grand prize away from you two?" Simon asked, jokingly.

"Hey, she wasn't even legally wearing a costume!" Brittany insisted.

"Yeah, she won that prize unfair and unsquare!" Alvin said.

"Who said she wasn't wearing a costume?" Eleanor asked.

"Right, you heard what they said," Jeanette said, "she won for creativity and originality."

"Creativity and originality my ass!" Alvin said.

"She said so herself, she couldn't think of anything to dress as, which is why she wore that old vampire getup of her's!" Brittany said.

"Well, so much for not having to put up with sore losers." Simon said.

"Look, what difference does it make that Cydra won the contest?" Jeanette asked. "At least got her to let her hair down and have a good time, we may just as well have broken her from her hatred for Halloween."

"I think she deserves congratulations!" Eleanor said.

"Let's go find her." Theodore said.

Cydra was, at that moment, stepping out the exit, looking for a place to bury her treasure, until she and her friends are ready to leave, so she won't have to carry it around for the rest of the party. All of those chocolate coins were rather heavy. She figured she would hide it behind the gymnasium, close to where the dumpsters were, so she dropped it on the ground, and covered it with a large, empty cardboard box, but before she could walk back into the building, a strange feeling came over her, a sudden chill, and a sudden drain of energy, that caused her to collapse to the ground in a daze. Afterwards, the crashers shot out from behind the dumpster.

"Now what?" The partner asked.

"Grab one of those bags, and let's go..." the main crasher instructed.

Cydra's near lifeless body was placed in a large, black trashbag, and the two crashers darted out into the night with her. Back inside the gymnasium, the chipmunks and chipettes met up with each other again.

"We can't find Cydra anywhere." Jeanette said.

"You don't think she already went home, do you?" Eleanor asked.

"This is probably the most excitment she's had in her life," Simon said, "it may have been too much for her to handle."

"Well then, let's get out of here ourselves!" Brittany said. "I'm in a bad mood now!"

"So what else is new?" Eleanor asked. 


	3. Reopening Old Wounds

Smile and Say Cydra Chapter 3: Reopening Old Wounds

The chipmunks' slumber continued well into the next morning, as they peacefully slept, a soft tapping was heard at their door, before Dave stepped into the room.

"Morning boys," Dave said, waking his sons, "breakfast will be ready shortly, better get up and get it while it's still hot!"

Moments later, the boys entered the kitchen, and took their respective places at the breakfast table, where plates of scrambled eggs awaited them. After the boys began eating, Dave joined them, after having gotten the paper off the driveway.

"I guess you boys must be tired from that party last night?" Dave asked.

"It certainly was a night to remember." Simon said.

"How come you're not eating, Theodore?" Dave asked.

"I don't feel very hungry this morning..." Theodore said.

"Theodore, you're always hungry." Dave said.

"He probably ate too much candy, and caramel apples, and pumpkin cookies at the party last night." Simon said.

"You said it..." Theodore said, with a half smile.

"How about you Alvin?" Dave asked, noticing Alvin wasn't eating either.

"No... I'm mad." Alvin said.

"What are you mad about?" Dave asked. "I thought you boys said you had a great time at the party last night."

"Oh, he's upset about losing the costume contest." Simon said.

"Oh?" Dave responded. "Who won?"

The boys froze for a brief moment, until Simon thought of his response, "Oh, Cydra won, she was dressed as... well, she called it the Vampire Princess."

At the point, Dave was confused. "Odd... I thought Cydra didn't participate in that sort of stuff because she was really religious?"

The boys froze again, this time for a longer moment. After this passage of time, the boys still never revealed the truth about Cydra's past to Dave, meanwhile, the chipettes never mentioned any of it to Miss Miller either. Neither of them were aware that Cydra was once cursed as a vampire, in fact, when they began to notice her newfound disdain for all things vampire and such, the kids came up with a front: they said that it was because Cydra was really religious.

"Perhaps she's just not as diehard into her religion as she once was." Simon threw out.

"Uh, yeah..." Theodore added, "she really had a good time last night... she probably ate more than I did."

"So, she won the costume contest, then?" Dave asked again.

"Yes," Simon said, "they said it was because of her creativity and originality."

"Yeah, most everybody else was pretty much random movie and TV characters." Theodore said.

"Or celebrities, like our Justin Bieber and Katy Perry." Simon said of Alvin and Brittany.

"So, she won the contest," Dave said, "it's not the end of the world, Alvin."

Alvin couldn't respond to that, considering he still stood by his claim that Cydra didn't win fair and square, as she wasn't really wearing a costume, but rather, made herself up into old vampire self. Likewise, at the Miller house, similar tension was mounting.

"Brittany, the world must go on..." Eleanor said.

"Yeah, you really shouldn't be too upset anyway," Jeanette said, "after all, you wanted to help her socialize abit more."

"Yeah, I wanted to help her socialize more," Brittany said, "I didn't want her to cheat at that costume contest!"

"Who said she cheated?" Jeanette asked.

"You have to give her some credit," Eleanor said, "she couldn't think of anything to dress as for the party, in a way, dressing herself up the way she did when she was a vampire was somewhat clever..."

"And you have to admit," Jeanette added, "it was creative and original, as opposed to others who were in the contest."

"You're just sore because you didn't win," Eleanor said, "face it Britt, if it was Cydra, Alvin, or anyone else besides you, you'd still be sore just the same."

"I still say it wasn't fair and square, because she technically wasn't wearing a costume." Brittany said.

"Well, why do you keep complaining to us about it?" Jeanette asked. "Why don't you take it up with Cydra, then pilage and plunder her over her treasure?"

"I think I will!" Brittany said, as she stormed out of the room.

Jeanette and Eleanor quickly followed.

"Wait, Britt!" Jeanette called out. "I wasn't really being serious..."

The chipettes walked down the block in the neighborhood to Cydra's house, where Brittany banged on the door.

"Gee, take it easy, Britt..." Eleanor said.

"Yeah, it's just us, not the police with a search warrant." Jeanette said.

The door was opened by Cydra's adoptive mother, Nancy.

"Are you the police with a search warrant?" Nancy asked.

"Huh?" The girls responded, before Nancy looked down.

"Oh, the Miller girls..." Nancy said, "sorry, I was expecting the police."

"Woah," Brittany said, "I knew this was a bad situation, but I didn't realizing cheating in a contest was a federal case."

"What do you know about the situation?" Nancy asked.

"No, she's just refering to Cydra winning the costume contest at the party last night," Jeanette said, "we don't know of any situation you're refering to."

Nancy sighed, "Well, I would have hoped that you, of all people, would know."

The girls were confused.

"Is something wrong?" Eleanor asked.

"Very," Nancy said, "Cydra never returned home from the party last night, we're very worried about her!"

"That's odd," Jeanette said, "she disappeared before we left last night... we assumed she may have already went home by herself."

Nancy shook her head. "No, she never came home."

"What could've happened?" Eleanor asked.

"I don't know," Nancy said, "but her father and I have contacted the police to file a missing child report... I hate to think what could have happened to her..."

"We better talk to the boys, and see if they may know of anything..." Eleanor said.

Shortly later, the chipettes met with the chipmunks at the frozen yogurt shoppe, where they discussed Cydra's sudden disappearance.

"So, what you're saying is Cydra never returned home from the party last night," Simon began, "meanwhile, we all looked around before we left the party, and didn't see a trace of her... so something must have happened to her between now, and after the costume contest..."

"But what could have happened?" Theodore asked.

"We don't know, but her mom is really worried." Eleanor said.

"Maybe some of those aliens at the party were actual aliens, instead of kids in costumes," Alvin deduced, "and they abducted her to take her back to their planet, so they can study human... I mean chipmunk... anatomy, so they can create and mass-produce life-like clones, programmed to conquer the universe!"

The rest of the group sat there with blank expressions on their faces.

"Yeah, that's really logical, Alvin..." Simon remarked.

"You don't think someone might have abducted her, do you?" Jeanette asked.

"What else could explain her disappearance?" Brittany asked. "I mean, unless she dematerialized, or disentigrated or something..."

"Well, someone can't just disappear into thin air..." Simon said.

"Unless you're a magician," Alvin said, "or a vampire."

Silence overcame the table.

"You don't think maybe there was more to her 'vampire princess' guise than met the eye, do you?" Eleanor asked.

"You think she really was a vampire again last night?" Theodore asked.

"Is that possible?" Jeanette asked.

All eyes turned to Simon.

"I haven't the faintest idea..." Simon said, "but we do have to consider the possibilities... and it is a possibility..."

"But how could she have become a vampire again all of the sudden?" Jeanette asked.

"Maybe Super Simon's vampire reversal syrum didn't work good enough, eh genius?" Alvin rudely asked of his younger brother.

"If that was the case," Eleanor butted in, "then wouldn't the same be said of us, considering she bit us when she was a vampire as well?"

"Could be a new variant..." Simon said, "maybe the syrum wore off sooner with her because she was a vampire longer than you three..."

"Are you saying the syrum only offers temporary help?" Jeanette asked.

"I'm not saying that," Simon said, "but again, we do have to consider the possibilities... now look, there's only two logical explanations behind Cydra's disappearance... either she was abducted, or she's a vampire again and has disappeared... which could it possibly be?"

A hush fell over the table again.

"I say she's a vampire again!" Alvin said.

"Me too!" Brittany said.

"I'll vote on that." Theodore added.

"We're not voting on something here..." Simon said.

"The only way we're going to find out about this situation, is if we find Cydra." Eleanor said.

"But where could she have gone?" Jeanette asked.

"All we can do at this point is launch an investigation of our own..." Simon said.

"You're right!" Alvin said, bringing his fist down on the table. "After all, the cops may need some backup!"

The others groaned. Just what did happen to Cydra? Nobody knew. Her friends may have had theories, but her parents had no clue, and when they filed their report to the police, they were left scratching their heads over the manner as well.

"Okay, so let me get this straight..." one officer said, as he looked over his note pad once more, "you're daughter is a chipmunk?"

"Yes." Nancy, and her husband, Richard, said, with a nod.

"And she was last seen dressed as a vampire?" The officer asked.

"Yes." Nancy and Richard said, also with a nod.

"See, she went to a Halloween party with some friends from school last night," Nancy added, "the vampire thing was just a costume, but it's what she was last seen wearing."

"And where does she attend school?" The officer asked.

"Thomas Edison High School." Nancy said.

"Did anybody see her leave the party?" The officer asked.

"No," Nancy said, "her friends dropped by an hour ago, they said she pretty much disappeared before the party was over."

"And let me guess," the officer said, "her friends would also be chipmunks?"

"Yes." Nancy nodded.

The officer rubbed his forehead, while his partner simply turned his head. The people sounded like they were nuts.

"Actually," Richard spoke up, as he slipped his hand into his back pocket, "I may have a photo of her, if you don't believe us..."

Richard removed his wallet from his pocket, and fished through the collection of photos he had in it, until he found one of Cydra, and showed it to the officers.

"She actually doesn't have that many piercings anymore," Richard added, "but she did wear some as part of her costume jewelry last night."

"And she does have one brown eye, and one green eyes, that should give you some distinguishing marks to look for." Nancy said.

"I believe the fact that she's a chipmunk is a distinguishing enough of a mark..." the officer said. "We'll contact the school officials, see if maybe they have any survellance footage we can study for clues... it's very unlikely she could have just disappeared."

Although Cydra had blacked out, when she finally regained consciousness, everything was still black. She wasn't aware she was blindfolded, but she could tell she was in a chair, she tried to reach her hands out, and feel her surroundings, but her wrists were bound behind the back of the chair. At the same time, she also tried to stand, but her ankles were bound to the legs of the chair. And wherever she was, she was in dead silence. She wasn't quite sure what to make of her situation, as she didn't even remember what the last thing was that happened to her. Suddenly, she felt something warm and wet carress her ear, which startled her.

"What's going on?" Cydra called out. "Is anyone there? Hello?"

"I'm here..." a deep voice spoke softly into her ear.

Cydra paused. The voice sounded so familar to her.

"Who's that?" Cydra asked.

"Me." The voice said.

"Me who?" Cydra asked.

When the blindfold was undone from around Cydra's head, she immediately recognized her surroundings. She knew exactly where she was, and she knew who was speaking into her ear. Her captor circled around her chair. It was the party crasher who abducted her the previous night. It was someone more than that, it was actually the wrong person she crossed paths with years earlier. The person who took advantage of her when she was lost and alone. The person who cursed her.

"Small world, isn't it?" He said to her.

Cydra nodded. "A little too small..."

The guy spread his arms, indicating Cydra should observe her surroundings.

"Look familar?" He asked her.

Again, Cydra nodded. "Yeah... it does... I was brought here a few times before... matter of fact, this is the place where I lost my virginity..."

He smiled, devilishly, "the place where Lucifer dwells?"

"What do you want Kyle?" Cydra asked.

The tall, dark, and sinister Kyle ran a finger down Cydra's face, as she pulled it away. Kyle brought his hand over to Cydra's mouth, and forced her to part her lips, as he inspected what looked like fangs.

"Cute," Kyle remarked, "really cute..."

Kyle grabbed ahold of one of the fangs, and yanked on it, pulling the fake, rubber fangs Cydra wore as part of her costume at the party.

"Yeah, falsies are even worse when they're in the mouth, and not under the shirt." Kyle said.

Cydra didn't respond, but once again, Kyle forced her to part her lips. He inspected the inside of her mouth, and saw that her natural fangs were no longer there. As long as he had her mouth propped open, Kyle slipped her his tongue, but she swiftly closed her mouth with a chomp. Kyle jumped back with an exclamation, that soon turned into chuckles.

"Not so effective now that you no longer have the tools." Kyle said, mocking Cydra's fangless bite.

"What do you want from me Kyle?" Cydra asked. "You certainly got rid of me really quickly after you spent all that time taking advantage of my dispair..."

"That's the way it goes..." Kyle said, with a false sigh, "hug 'em and squeeze 'em, love 'em and leave 'em..."

"You knew I had no one else to turn to," Cydra said, "I alienated my friends because of you! You convinced me you were the only one who really cared about me!"

"I was pretty convincing, wasn't I?" Kyle boasted.

Cydra rolled her eyes. "Well, FYI, I'm not a vampire anymore... I caught on to your scheme... I know what happened... that 'party' you took me too years ago... that wasn't a party... it was a Satanic ritual... and you were a Satanic vampire... and you cursed me into becoming a vampire as well."

"Wow, you're not half as dumb as you appear to be." Kyle remarked.

Cydra couldn't believe this was happening.

"What I am genuinely curious about is how?" Kyle continued. "How did you break the curse?"

"I didn't break the curse, it was..." Cydra began, but then cut herself off, not wanting to drag her friends into the situation.

"It was what?" Kyle asked. "Or... who?" 


	4. The Investigation

Smile and Say Cydra Chapter 4: Investigations

The afternoon grew longer, as the chipmunks and the chipettes made their way to their school, in hopes of finding clues that would point to Cydra's sudden disappearance. Their only theories they had were they believe she was either abducted by someone, or she really is a vampire again and simply disappeared for one reason, or another. The kids made it to the gymnasium where the party had been held the night before, where Alvin promptly tried to open the doors, only to find that they were locked.

"Very clever of those vampires..." Alvin said, "locking us out of our own school so we won't be on to their little games!"

"Alvin, it's Saturday, the school is closed." Simon said.

"I knew that!" Alvin said, giving up on the door.

"Well, the only thing we can really do at this point is search the outlining premises," Simon said, "and look for clues."

"Before we find them, what kind of clues are we looking for?" Theodore asked.

"Any clues that may offer some information regarding Cydra's disappearance." Simon said.

"Yeah, or any clues that may reveal she's a vampire!" Alvin said.

For the next several moments, the chipmunks and the chipettes search frantically through-out the schoolyard, looking for any signs of their missing friend, but it seemed like the more they looked, the less they found. Finally, Theodore made his way over to the dumpster, where he opened the hatch, and poked his head inside.

"Hello?" Theodore called out. "Cydra? Are you in here Cydra?"

Theodore removed himself from the dumpster, and began overturning the cardboard boxes that surrounded it, thinking maybe Cydra maybe hiding underneath one of them, until he uncovered Cydra's treasure chest she won at the party for the costume contest.

"Oh boy!" Theodore squealed. "Incredible riches!"

Theodore swiftly opened the treasure chest, and helped himself to a number of the chocolate coins inside. Shortly later, others made their way over towards him, each glaring an eye at him, until he noticed.

"What's everybody looking at me for?" Theodore asked.

"Theodore!" Alvin shrieked, "you can't just stand there and ate at a time like this! We gotta find clues that'll help us find Cydra!"

"Wait a minute Alvin," Simon stopped his brother, "this is a clue!"

"Huh?" Alvin asked.

"That's the grand prize from the costume contest that Cydra won!" Eleanor pointed out.

"Where did you find that?" Simon asked.

"Right here, under one of these cardboard boxes." Theodore said.

"This is odd... Cydra's prize just hidden under one of these boxes... and right by the dumpster?" Simon deduced.

"Why would Cydra throw her prize away?" Eleanor asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Alvin asked. "She's trying to get rid of the evidence that would prove she's still a vampire!"

"Alvin!" The others snapped.

"Just sayin'..." Alvin said.

"But Alvin does have a point," Simon said, "this is evidence... but there has to have been a reason Cydra would have hidden her prize under a box by the dumpster..."

"What do you think it could be, Simon?" Jeanette asked.

"Perhaps she wanted to find a place to hide it, in the event that some other kid might try to take it away from her..." Simon said, "or she's reverting to a state of child-like whimsy and wanted to experience the thrill of burying treasure..."

"Well, whatever the case is, at least we found some evidence!" Alvin said.

As night had fallen, a so-called emergency meeting was held in the cellar of the Seville house. A collection of chairs were arranged on one side of the cellar, where Dave, Miss Miller, the chipettes, Cydra's parents, and even the police were sitting. On the other side of the cellar, Alvin and Simon had a large table placed in front of them, and a large box between them on the floor, Alvin kept looking over a clipboard with a serious eye, while Simon looked uncomfortable. Finally, Theodore stepped down into the cellar with a tray of cookies and fruit punch.

"About time, Theodore!" Alvin said. "You're ten minutes late!"

"Sorry, but I thought everyone may like refreshments..." Theodore said.

"This is an emergency meeting," Alvin said, "not a Sunday Social!"

"Relax Alvin, his intentions are good." Simon said.

"Alright," Alvin addressed the attendees, "let's begin... we are about to uncover the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!"

"You think he's been watching to much Judge Judy?" One officer whispered to the other.

"Exhibit A!" Alvin said, as he held up a photo of Cydra. "A photograph of the victim... one Cydra Donaldson..."

"That's her, alright..." Cydra's father, Richard, said.

Alvin dropped the photo, as he and Simon lifted the treasure chest of chocolate coins onto the table. "Exhibit B! The grand prize Cydra Donaldson won for the costume contest at the Halloween party at school!"

Simon rolled his eyes, as Alvin pulled out a party favor, that appeared to be a little plastic jack-o-latern on a plastic rod.

"Exhibit C!" Alvin said, before he pressed a button on the rod of the party favor, which activated the jack-o-latern, which proceeded to strobe different colored lights into people's eyes, while playing a series of spooky howls and evil laughter, which startled everyone in the room.

Alvin then grabbed a plastic cup. "Exhibit D! Theodore, what is this?"

"Well..." Theodore began.

"Never mind!" Alvin said, before he played his party favor again, once again, startling the others.

'Alvin, can we just get on with this?" Simon asked.

"Right, let's just move ahead to Exhibit L..." Alvin said, as he pulled down a projection screen, that had a poorly scribbled map of the school, "a map of the entire school!"

Alvin snapped his fingers, for Simon to hold up a box of thumbtacks, while Alvin kept grabbing them, and sticking them to the projection screen.

"Here..." Alvin placed a tack, "is where the party was held... here is where Cydra Donaldson was last seen winning her prize for the costume contest... here is where we last found the prize... here is where Theodore slipped three handfuls of candy into his Hamburglar sack... here is where I showed off my killer Justin Bieber costume, mooching votes from others attending the party... here is where Simon's bacteria costume infected others that surrounded him... it was a full moon out that night, so there's the strong possibility that..."

"Alvin?" Dave interrupted.

"Now is not the time for questions and answers, Dave," Alvin said, "you'll have to wait until the meeting is over."

"Well, when is that going to be?" Dave asked.

Once more, Alvin played his party favor to startle the others, before Simon swiped it out of Alvin's hand, and broke it. Back at Kyle's lair, Cydra was now bound to his bed, wrists bound to the headboard, ankles bound to the baseboard, while he kept pacing in front of where she laid. Finally, he looked at her.

"You can't say I didn't do anything for you..." he growled, "I gave you a gift... I gave you a very special gift..."

"Oh, really?" Cydra smirked.

"Immortality!" Kyle said. "I gave you the gift of immortality! A gift that very few possess... and even fewer actually deserve."

"Yeah, well your 'gift' came with some mind-altering side effects!" Cydra said.

"That's only a minor quibble." Kyle insisted.

"It's a major quibble as fair as I'm concerned!" Cydra said.

"Typical mortals..." Kyle said, "they're never satisfied with anything, even when they get exactly what they want... but to throw away a special gift in the manner you have done is unacceptable... and I thought so highly of you..."

"Liar!" Cydra shrieked.

Kyle snapped his head to the side, staring Cydra dead in the eye, then in the blink of an eye, Cydra found him on top of her, noses pressed against each other, she felt her energy slowly being pulled from her body.

"Who took a poor, lost, little girl, and opened the door of his world to her?" Kyle asked. "Who plucked you out of the deep, dark pit of misery, and rose you above it?"

Kyle quickly reversed his energy field, and sent all of the drained energy backed into Cydra.

"And you threw that all away... and for what?" Kyle asked.

"Friends who really care about me!" Cydra said.

"Nobody cares about you wasted space!" Kyle said. "Only I do!"

"Then why did you curse me, and abandoned me?" Cydra asked.

Kyle didn't respond. He placed his hand on Cydra's face, and nudged her head back, exposing her small, bare neck. Cydra repeatedly mumbled nos, which became more frantic as Kyle slowly licked her neck, and pressed his fangs up against her vocal chord. Just as swiftly as before, Kyle pulled away from Cydra, standing at the foot of the bed.

"I want to know..." Kyle said, "who are these 'friends' of your's? Who broke the curse? How did they do it?"

"What's it to you?" Cydra asked.

"The curse is never meant to be broken..." Kyle said, "otherwise, there will be consequences... very dire consequences..."

"I already suffered the consequences of my actions," Cydra said, "to mindlessly bite innocent people who I felt I deserved respect from, only to curse them as well, and turn them into mindless minions..."

Kyle chuckled.

"I've earned respect now," Cydra said, "genuine respect from those who care about me!"

"And who are those who care about you?" Kyle asked.

Cydra lolled her head to the side, still refusing to divulge any information regarding the Sevilles and the Millers, or the syrum Simon discovered and concocted to reverse the effects of a vampire's curse. Kyle slowly backed away from the bed.

"You're being very foolish," Kyle said, in a fake Dracula accent, "vee haf vayz off makink you... talk!"

"And who are 'vee'?" Cydra asked.

Kyle rose his hands into the air, and slowly, the figures of several other people materialized in the room they were in. One by one, Cydra recognized each and every face, each one wearing the same sick, twisted smile, and having absolutely no life in their dull-looking eyes whatsoever.

"You remember these faces, don't you?" Kyle asked.

Cydra nodded. They were the faces of the 'friends' Kyle wanted to introduce her to. They were the faces of those who attended the Satanic ritual that fateful night where Cydra was brought in an unsuspecting chipmunk, and awoke as a vampire.

"We'll get all of the pertenant information out of you..." Kyle said, "sooner than later..."

Back at the Seville house, the meeting was breaking up, as the police took Alvin and his brothers aside.

"Look boys," one of the officers said, "we understand you want to find your missing friend, but it's best that you leave the police work to the professionals. In a situation like this, time is of the upmost importance, and any time lost with silly little games like this is that much more time your friend may or may not have left."

"Believe me," Alvin said, while both Simon and Theodore continued to drown in their embarrassment, "this case is bigger than all of us!"

"Well," the officer said, "can you think of any reason your friend may have disappeared?"

Alvin shoved his hands into his pocket, and nodded, before answering. "We have our theories."

"Well, let's hear them." The officer said.

Again, Alvin stood there for a moment, "Supernatural forces?"

Simon turned his head, while Theodore tugged at his collar, and the police sighed.

"Look kid," the officer said, "those paranormal spook movies aren't really true to life... this isn't fiction, this is real, and there's something more logical to explain your friend's disappearance, we just have to find that ourselves... just leave this to us, we'll find your friend."

The police stood up, and exited the cellar as well, before Simon and Theodore turned to their brother.

"Had enough of making a fool of yourself, Alvin?" Simon asked.

Alvin sighed through his nose, "I still say this case is bigger than all of us! If only we had proof!" 


	5. The Suspects

Smile and Say Cydra Chapter 5: The Suspects

Cydra continued looking at the number of blank, yet smiling faces, now that Kyle had over turned the bed she was bound to, standing it on its foot, as he continuously circled around it.

"My friends," Kyle addressed his minions, all the while drawing their attention to Cydra, "I give you... a reject..."

Cydra rolled her eyes, and let out a loud sigh through her nose.

"She came to us, a long time ago, a reject..." Kyle continued, "but now, she has rejected us..."

Once more, Kyle brought his hand to Cydra's mouth, and forced her to part her lips. The demented smiles from the faces of Kyle's minions disappeared when they saw Cydra had no fangs, and realized she was no longer a vampire like them.

"She was given a special gift," Kyle continued, "and callously had it tossed aside, as if it had no significant value whatsoever..."

Just to creep her out further, Kyle stuck his finger into Cydra's mouth, swirling it around, collecting samples of her saliva, before pulling it back out, and wiping the saliva off by slowly, yet firmly pulling his finger down her cheek.

"The curse... has been broken..." Kyle continued, "and there is someone out there responsible for breaking this curse... yet, our former friend refuses to release that information..."

"Former is right..." Cydra mumbled, "on my part."

A hush fell over the room. Kyle grabbed Cydra by the jaw, and forced her to look into his eyes.

"We are going to get that information out of you..." Kyle warned, "and you should know... resistance is useless."

The following day at school should have been a happy day, it was Halloween, a favorite holiday among the students, but the day wasn't entirely happy, especially with the still suspicious chipmunks and chipettes, who continued to discuss the matter of Cydra's disappearance over lunch that day.

"Good god Alvin," Brittany groaned, "I'm still seeing spots from that stupid party favor you just had to get at the party..."

"Hey, I had to get as many exhibits for this investigation as I could!" Alvin said.

"Well, you heard the police officer last night," Theodore said, "he wants us to leave that to them to do."

"But they don't have our inside information!" Alvin said.

"Do you seriously think the police are going to believe our claims that Cydra was once, and possible may once again be, a vampire?" Eleanor asked.

"Probably not..." Alvin said, "they could very well be in on the whole plot!"

The others groaned. As for the police themselves, they finally got in contact with school officials, and obtained the survellance footage that was recorded the night of the party. During the afternoon, the detectives down at the LAPD studied the footage very carefully, to make sure that they didn't overlook a single detail. They kept their eyes on their subject through-out their entire viewing, making sure not the lose the chipmunk girl dressed as a vampire princess in the busy crowd of party goers. They kept watching, all through-out the party, witnessing her hanging out with her friends, to going solo at the apple cidar setup, to being dragged into the costume contest. After the costume contest was when the case too an interesting turn, as they witness Cydra grab her prize, and leave the gymnasium.

"That's obviously where she leaves..." one detective said.

"Do we have any additional survellance footage outside the premises we can view?" the other detective asked.

"Yeah, on another tape..." the first detective said, "what's the timecode at this particular moment?"

"8:47 PM EDT." The second detective said.

"Okay, we'll just fast forward to that time frame on this tape, and see if we can get any clues there..." the first detective said, as he switched the frequency on the monitor they were watching.

Back at school, lunch period was just about to come to an end, and the rest of the kids were still talking shop about Cydra's situation.

"I guess I'm the only one who doesn't believe Cydra is a vampire again then?" Jeanette asked.

"Are you kidding us?" Brittany asked.

"I don't know..." Jeanette said, "I mean... I just don't think she would go back to being a vampire... she was really grateful to Simon for breaking the curse..."

Simon nodded, "I remember... she could hug hard..."

"We know re-adjusting to a normal life has been a struggle, but she's been doing pretty good so far," Jeanette added, "why would she suddenly just want to be a vampire again?"

The others paused.

"Jeanette may have a point..." Eleanor said.

"Oh come on," Alvin argued, "you know it's been a proven fact if someone's done something once, they'll do it again, they never change!"

"There maybe some exceptions to that rule." Eleanor said.

"Well, whatever the case," Simon said, "I don't believe it's fair to make any assumptions about Cydra at this point in time, as to whether or not she has or hasn't become a vampire again."

"I agree." Jeanette said.

"Me too." Eleanor said.

"All we can do at this point is wait..." Simon said, "I'm sure the police are doing all they can to find her."

Back at the LAPD...

"You think this could be anything?" One of the detectives asked, as they observed what looked like a couple of punks climbing atop the dumpster outside the school gymnasium.

"Could be..." the other detective said, as he continued fast forwarding until he made it to the timeframe where Cydra exited.

The two detectives watched carefully. They watch as Cydra steps out of the gymnasium, and looks around, until she walks over towards the dumpster, and looks at the stash of empty cardboard boxes, before she appears to simply faint.

"Did you see that?" One detective asked.

"Did she just faint?" The other detective asked.

The detectives continue watching, intrigued by seeing the two guys hopping off of the dumpster, and walking over to Cydra's body on the ground.

"I think we may have already figured this out..." one of the detectives said.

"You think they're going to take her?" The other asked.

They watched as the shorter of the two walks back toward the dumpster, grabbing a large, black trashbag, and the two of them stuffing Cydra's body into it, before walking off like they're taking out trash, in the wrong direction.

"This doesn't make a whole lot of sense..." one detective said, "why does she just faint like that?"

"Maybe we missed something, let's rewind that..." the other said.

They rewound the tape, and replayed Cydra hiding her treasure, only this time, they payed more attention to the two sitting atop the dumpster. Did they overlook something? Did they perhaps miss a blow dart, or anything of that nature? Nothing. They watched as the two just sat there, seemingly doing nothing, and Cydra simply fainting.

"Let's look at the other tape again," one of the detectives said, "before she fixes herself some drinks... maybe one of them may have spiked her drink or something."

"Why would it have taken that long for something like that to take effect?" The other asked. "That little contest afterwards lasted nearly twenty minutes, and she seems rather coherant."

"Well something has to explain why she would suddenly faint like that..." the first detective said, "I find it hard to believe a seemingly healthy sixteen year old girl would go into cardiac arrest or something..."

"I really don't see why we should worry too much about that," the other detective said, "we see what happened to her, perhaps we should concentrate on getting these descriptions out, to see if anyone recognizes them, and if so, where they may be located, and what they may have done with this girl, if they still have her."

They did still have her. At that moment, Cydra remained bound to the overturned bed, having the energy drained from her body, as Kyle's minions worked to hypnotize her.

"How are you feeling?" Kyle asked, with a smirk.

Cydra struggled to even mumble. "Dr-dr-drained..."

Kyle smiled. "You know why you feel that way, don't you?"

"I... do..." Cydra mumbled.

"You don't have to put up with this..." Kyle said, as he signalled for his minions to cease with their hypnosis.

Cydra gasped as she suddenly felt her energy shoot back into her body. Kyle walked over to her, looking her in the eye again.

"Why won't you just talk already?" Kyle asked.

Cydra pursed her lips, before finally speaking up. "You already ruined my life... I don't want you to ruin anymore lives, especially the lives of my friends."

Once again, Kyle pressed his nose up against Cydra's. "You have no friends."

"I do so." Cydra said, through her teeth.

"Tell me who they are." Kyle pressed.

"Never." Cydra said.

"Well then," Kyle said, "let me show you some true friendship to convince you otherwise..."

Kyle's minions softly chuckled in a sinister manner, before they disappeared from the room, their chuckles still echoing for a short while. Hours later, after school, as the chipmunks and chipettes walked away from the schoolyard, and towards their neighborhood, a police cruiser pulled up beside them, it was the same officers who had been asigned to Cydra's case.

"Excuse us, kids," one officer called out from his window, "we're asking the witnesses in your friend's case to come down to police headquarters to review some survellance footage we obtained from the school officials."

"Why?" Alvin asked. "What have you found?"

"Abduction." The officer said.

The kids exchanged looks with each other.

"Mr. and Mrs. Donaldson are meeting us at headquarters now to review the footage as well," the officer continued, "we'd like to see if any of you can identify the suspects, or if may know anything about the abduction..."

"We'll need to let our parents know where we'll be." Simon said.

"Hop in," the officer said, "we'll drive you home, speak with your parents, and take it from there."

Shortly later, the Seville boys, the Miller girls, and the Donaldsons sat in what was usually an interogation room, which in confusion at the footage that they were being shown. Like the detectives earlier in the afternoon, the group was left scratching their heads at the sight of Cydra seemingly fainting for no reason, before being placed in a trashbag, and taken away by what appeared to be a couple of thugs.

"I just don't understand it..." Nancy said, "why did she faint? What did she consume at the party?"

"About two pounds of candy," Eleanor said, "a pound of pumpkin cookies, a bushel of caramel apples, and a gallon of apple cidar."

"And that's how you get 'diabeetis'." Alvin added.

"Alvin!" the other kids snapped.

"We studied the footage from both angles," one of the detectives said, "we watched, and found no indication that she could have consumed anything harmful, unless she just happened to have consumed some kind of gag treat... but even then, it seems unlike it would have taken that long to take effect."

"But what about these two hoodlums who kidnapped her?" Richard asked.

"Well, that's what we wanted to show you," the officer said, before he instructed the detectives to pause the video footage, "do any of these boys look familar to you kids?"

The chipmunks and chipettes sat there, each studying the faces of the suspects carefully, though none of them could place them. None of them could remember Cydra even remotely associating with either of them. When the Donaldsons were asked, they too were at a loss at who they could be, they never saw Cydra with either of them either, nor did they remember their adopted daughter mentioning anybody who fit their descriptions.

"The only thing we can do at this point then," the officer said, "is get an all-points-bulletin out on these two, see if anybody out there may recognize them, and leave us tips on their whereabouts."

"I don't see what they could've want with her," Richard said, "it almost looks as if they targetted her specifically, but for god knows what..."

"Hopefully, if we can find them, we can get answers." The officer said.

"I certainly hope so," Nancy said, on the verge of tears, "I don't know what they want with her, or why they wanted her, but all I know is I want her home... I want to find my Cydra, and bring her home..."

The other kids were touched at Nancy's emotions. It wasn't a very long period of time ago that she and Richard had adopted Cydra, but it was clear that Nancy quickly developed a deep and meaningful relationship with her adopted daughter, and so wanted to find her. Cydra, meanwhile, kept screaming through Kyle's hand over her mouth, as he continued to take advantage of her once more. In between breaths, he would laugh at Cydra's attempts to bite his hand, as to him, her fangless bites were nothing short of a small child gumming on a toy. After several minutes, Kyle was finally satisfied, and pulled away from Cydra, as she feverishly pulled at her ropes, hoping she could pull them loose, but found they were bound too tightly. Kyle tossed the used rubber into the wastebasket, before turning his attention to Cydra once more.

"Remember?" He asked her.

Cydra sighed. "Yes... I remember... just remember, this time, I didn't give you my consent!"

"I know..." Kyle said, "I told you there would be consequences... are you ready to tell me what you know?"

"I'll never give in..." Cydra said, "you can keep trying, and you can tell me that I have no friends... but I do... I have real friends who really care for me, who really were there for me, and I'm not about to sell them out, just so you can punish them for breaking the curse you put me under, no matter what you do to me, you can keep hypnotizing me, you can keep draining my energy, you can keep raping me, you can even bite me for all I care... I won't talk..."

Kyle was astounded. Somehow, it seemed the more he kept trying to break his former minion down, the stronger she became in her will to protect her friends. He was somewhat surprised that this was the same chipmunk girl he charmed his way with years earlier, who seemed so lost, naive, and unsuspecting. Finally, Kyle had enough.

"Playing hard ball, huh?" Kyle asked. "Well, you know what? I'm through with playing games... now you are really going to be sorry."

Kyle summoned for his partner again, who appeared in the room next to his master.

"Is it my turn now?" He asked.

"Forget about that, doofus," Kyle growled, "we're taking it up a notch."

"What do you mean?" Kyle's partner asked of him.

"I mean thinking back on our ancestors..." Kyle said, "and their effective measures of punishment..."

A hush fell over the room.

"You mean...?" The partner asked.

Kyle turned himself and his partner around, in a two-person huddle, their backs to Cydra, as they lowered their voices.

"You seriously want to go through with this?" The partner asked. "You sure you actually want to... sacrifice her?"

Kyle nodded. "You and the others... get the large stake prepared... we'll see how long it'll take for her to talk before she becomes a little chipmunk kabob..."

The partner shook his head in astonishment. "Your great ancestor Vlad would be proud..."

Kyle smiled, "Yes he would... get the stake ready..." 


	6. Sacrifice

Smile and Say Cydra Chapter 6: Sacrifice

Later that evening, as Dave and his sons sat over dinner, the conversation regarding the whereabouts of Cydra continued.

"So two men abducted Cydra from the party?" Dave asked.

"Not so much men," Simon said, "they only looked to be somewhere in their late teens, or early twenties."

"Did it look like they targeted Cydra specifically?" Dave asked, "or do you think this was a badly timed coincidence."

"Probably a badly timed coincidence." Alvin said.

While Alvin, Theodore, and Dave continued their discussion, Simon sat in silence for a moment. He got to thinking about it, and somehow, it seemed to him that the two did target Cydra. He also thought about how Cydra seemed to faint for no reason before she was abducted. His eyes then widened, and he let out a rather loud, "That's it!", taking his brothers and father by surprise.

"What's it Simon?" Theodore asked.

Simon glanced at Dave, who waited for Simon to continue.

"Uh... it... just now slipped my mind..." Simon lied.

"Must not have been too important then..." Dave commented, while both Alvin and Theodore glanced at Simon.

After dinner, the boys met in their room.

"Alright Simon," Alvin began, "what have you figured out?"

"I have a suspicion that these two guys, or maybe just one of them, were perhaps acquainted with Cydra before..." Simon said.

"What are you getting at?" Theodore asked.

"I mean, I believe either of them could very well be from Cydra's deep, dark, past." Simon said.

"You mean more vampires?" Alvin asked.

"Yes, I believe so..." Simon said.

"What do you think they've done with Cydra?" Theodore asked.

"That I don't know," Simon said, "but if this is the case, and they see that the curse has been broken, then I believe what's yet to come won't be very pretty."

"What, like you think the entire population of vampires will declare war on us?" Alvin asked.

"I hope not." Simon said.

Moments later, Alvin was tossing pebbles at the chipettes' bedroom window, trying to garner their attention. Brittany finally opened the window.

"Who's out there?" Brittany asked.

"Down here!" Simon said.

"What's going on?" Brittany asked.

"Come out here, we need to have an emergency meeting!" Alvin said.

Within a matter of moments, the chipmunks and chipettes gathered in the chipmunks' old backyard treehouse.

"Here's what I've deduced," Simon said, "I believe that possibly one or both of those guys are somehow from Cydra's past... what they want with her, or what they plan to do with her, I don't know, but I do have a sickening feeling that there may be an upset when they see that Cydra's curse has been broken."

The girls sat there, uneasy over what Simon had just told them.

"That makes a little bit of sense..." Jeanette said.

"You think that's why Cydra was targetted?" Eleanor asked.

Simon shrugged. "It's just an assumption really."

Alvin groaned. "Seriously? Come on Simon, when you assume something, all you're really doing is making an..."

"Actually," Simon interrupted, "perhaps that wasn't the best way to put it, but I digress."

"So what are we going to do now?" Brittany asked.

"You don't think we can actually explain this sort of thing to Cydra's parents, do you?" Eleanor asked.

"No, I don't," Simon said, "however, I think I may know what we can do..."

"What's that?" Theodore asked.

"Remember that story Cydra told us?" Simon asked. "About a satanic ritual she was taken to, where she said she woke up the vampire we knew her to be?"

"Yeah, that was a pretty scary story..." Theodore said, shivering.

"Perhaps, maybe," Simon continued, "Cydra may be taken to another one..."

"And what are we going to do about that?" Brittany asked.

Simon sighed through his nose, even he knew that his idea was dangerous, "My plan is this: after Dave and Miss Miller are asleep tonight, we go out in search for such a ritual."

Everyone else's eyes widened.

"We look in the parks, other wooded areas, places like that," Simon said, "it would probably be easy to find, all we would really need to look for is a huge bon fire, like Cydra described."

A bon fire did, indeed, burn. In a clearing in a wooded area, a large bon fire burned, a number of sinister-looking characters gathered around it. Kyle made his way around the fire, leading his band of minions behind him, as they carried the tightly bonded Cydra. Kyle continued his march around the fire until he came upon a very large wooden stake that was driven into the ground. Kyle stopped, and had his minions deliver Cydra to him. Kyle stared Cydra dead in the eye, before he had their lips meet.

"This is your last chance," Kyle said, as he broke away from his kiss of death, "are you going to talk?"

"Never." Cydra said.

"Very well..." Kyle said.

Kyle walked away from Cydra, but before Cydra could react in any way, she was levitated off the ground, and suspended in mid air, for all those attending the sacrifice to see. Cydra's clothing was then ripped from her body.

"Now what that really necessary?" Cydra asked.

"Let this be an example for those of us, and all of us..." Kyle announced to everybody, "this is what happens to those who step out of line... those who betray their fellow vampires... those who are rejects..."

Cydra was manuevered above the large wooden stake, and was slowly lowered to it. Just as slowly, Cydra finally realized what was about to happen, and when she could feel the top of the wooden stake slowly making its way into her rectum, she cried out.

"There's a syrum!" Cydra cried out.

"What was that?" Kyle asked, surprised at Cydra's outburst.

"The curse can be broken by a..." Cydra continued.

Before Cydra could finish her sentence, Kyle erased everything and everyone from sight, causing Cydra to fall to the ground in a dark gray room, which had no windows or doors. Cydra tried to calm her heavy breathing as Kyle grabbed her head, and lifted her off the ground, to his eye level.

"Watch what you say in front of the others," Kyle said, "we don't want anybody out there to get any kind of ideas..."

Cydra's breathing settled down, she could feel her guts beginning to tie themselves into tight knots.

"Now then... you were saying?" Kyle asked.

Cydra decided that she would admit what it is that broke her curse, without naming names, figuring that information alone would be enough to satisfy Kyle.

"The curse can be broken... by a syrum..." Cydra said.

"A syrum?" Kyle asked.

"Yes..." Cydra continued, "I don't remember, exactly, what the ingredients were, but the main, key ingredient is the blood of someone pure-hearted..."

"The blood of someone pure-hearted, eh?" Kyle asked.

"Yes," Cydra said, "a full pint of pure blood... that, and the other ingredients work to reverse the effects of a vampire's curse."

"So tell me, my dear," Kyle said, "what pure-hearted 'friend' of your's discovered this syrum?"

"He didn't discover it," Cydra said, "he only read about it... he didn't create it or anything, he found the information from the internet..."

Kyle smirked. "Very well... we have ways of finding information as well..."

Suddenly, Kyle and Cydra found themselves back at the ritual, where once again she was levitated into the air. Cydra began to panic, as she was once again positioned about the wooden stake, only this time, with lightning speed, she was brought down, as she let out a deafening scream. 


End file.
